American Reprographics announces company-wide paycut

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Press release from the issuing company

WALNUT CREEK, CA, -- American Reprographics Company , the nation's leading provider of reprographics services and technology, today announced a company-wide payroll reduction of five percent, and a voluntary 50% salary reduction for CEO K. Suriyakumar as it continues its cost cutting efforts. The three initiatives are expected to produce annualized cost savings to the Company in the range of $6 million or $0.08 per diluted share.

K. "Suri" Suriyakumar, Chairman, President and CEO for American Reprographics Company, said, "The markets we serve have sharply declined. Thus, it is incumbent upon us to right-size our operations to get the optimum returns from the business. We've demonstrated we could grow quickly in an expanding economy; we also know how to downsize in a rapidly contracting economy. Doing so in a timely manner is critical for our success as an organization."

"We're not suffering from a reprographics or construction market problem that can be solved a little bit at a time," Mr. Suriyakumar continued. "Given the credit crisis and weak market conditions, the recovery of the economy is likely to be a slow and painstaking process. In situations like this, the best action dominant companies like ARC can take is to buckle down, reduce operating expenses dramatically and quickly, and expand market share aggressively using technology solutions," he concluded.

As previously announced, the Company is continuing a series of cost cutting efforts that include further reductions in labor and plans to close or consolidate up to 50 locations during the year.

Jonathan Mather, American Reprographics Company CFO, stated, "I am pleased with the rapid progress we're seeing in reducing our costs. While we would like to realize the benefit of such work immediately, we must accomplish these reductions without major disruptions in service to customers or any unnecessary decline in staff morale."